The net post is America.

Just give me a minute, promise; I will bring it all together in the end.

See, we are a little bent right now and yes that we includes me, you, Republicans, Democrats, Trump, Pelosi, and all Americans. Bent but not broken… yet. The machine is still rolling along even though we feel like it could be the end of times. A nuclear war with Iran or North Korea breaks us, an unfixable climate breaks us, another four years would break us but we are not there yet. Close and getting closer but not there yet.

The net post on court #2 at the high school is also a little bent. Rambunctious and irresponsible kids were hanging on the net and it bent one of the side posts so that the net is now about ¾ of an inch lower than it should be. Not a big deal unless you are a tennis player and have practiced for thousands of hours with a net post height of 3’6” and a center height of 3’. Sure I could train my team to excel with the lower net thus cheating and creating an unfair advantage but that’s not what sports are about (Are you listening NFL and MLB?).

So I walked into the netherworld of the SVHS shop department and asked for help. I do not walk into others classrooms at SVHS because I know how important being master of your universe is and my relationship with many teachers is not the greatest (something about me being an over-opinionated a-hole, not totally sure what that’s about). But the boy’s tennis season begins in a couple of weeks and I need a solution so I exit my comfort zone and go.

And there it is, if we want to get things done in this country we have to stop lobbing turds at one another, step outside of our comfort zone and ask for help. Are you following the impeachment hoping that for some reason the other side might change their minds? Well, stop because we know where people’s loyalties lie and why they lie there and unless Trump does actually shoot someone on 5^thAvenue, the outcome is predetermined. Focusing on the mayhem only pulls us further apart.

Better to look at challenges and start to work on how to fix them. Pick an issue, big or small, make a plan and do the work. I hated seeing gang tags around my neighborhood and my students needed volunteer hours so-bam- the Creekside Graffiti Abatement Crew was born and now the neighborhood looks better.

But don’t stop there, adopt a creek, start plogging, give blood, do tangible things that cause real change. Want to help the homeless, make a plan and execute, sure the Los Guilicos solution is going to upset some people but is it worse than seeing fellow human beings living on the streets? Remember change is uncomfortable and uncomfortable is good.

I had a dream last week and not just because it was MLK day, I dreamt that Greta Thunberg got out of her seat in Davos and walked on stage and punched Donald Trump in the face after he called her a “perennial prophet of doom”.  As a proud pacifist these dreams are a little unsettling but Greta once again is schooling our leader this time about how nothing has been done in the year and a half that she has been protesting. Sure the bestseller is nice and being Time’s person of the year is awesome but carbon levels are still rising. Ideas are great, plans are important but action solves problems.

Actually, that’s not totally true, the EPA rolled back restrictions on wastewater last week and the 2020 Toyota Tundra gets 14 miles to the gallon and guess where 91% of our recycled plastic ends up (rhymes with grandfill)?  So we are actually moving backwards while the talking heads make us think we’re going forward.

But change is coming, Kobe’s death or Impeachment or War in the Middle East or a tanking economy or the Coronavirus or Bernie will hopefully wake us up before the big end so that we all come together and fight the right enemies instead of each other.

Oh, BTW, superstar metal shop teacher Mark Lea brought his cable puller and a length of chain and we bent back the net post then secured it with a metal wedge. He also helped me plan the installation of the backboard wall, which will be up before the season starts. It’s all about the right tools and connecting with the right people.

The net post is America.